Beal deal could be sealed within days
HIGH-LEVEL sources close to the negotiations with an American company to set up a spaceport here say the deal could be sealed within days. "Consideration of an agreement is at an advanced stage and the agreement could be clinched within days", an official who asked to remain anonymous told the Chronicle. Cabinet is understood to be finalising a study of the draft proposals to conclude an agreement. Beal Aerospace of Texas began negotiations with the Guyana Government last year to set up a rocket launch base in a swampy region in the remote north west district. The firm says the location is ideal for its proposed plan to launch commercial satellites for customers. Sources said the American company wants a 99-year lease for 26,000 acres in Waini at a fee per acre for the main primary site. It is also seeking to buy 10 acres for its launching facility and a radar and tracking base in the project, the Chronicle understands. Prime Minister Sam Hinds told Parliament last December the Beal Aerospace rocket launch site investment in Guyana is just what the country needs to improve its image. He assured that the negotiations between the government and the American firm were being done in the best interests of the country and said consultations will continue with the opposition and other interest groups on the deal. "Our government maintains that position that we would not be getting into any agreement with any intention that those agreements would be secret. "They would be laid in Parliament as soon as it is totally consummated," the Prime Minister said. Initial investment in the project is estimated at US$50M. Mr Hinds said that if for the first five years there is no development of the area for a rocket launch site, the land will be reverted to the government and the money paid will be reimbursed. "In this time of start-up when there may be 20 companies altogether trying to get into the business, it is always possible, and we thought it prudent, to take the protection that if for commercial reasons or any other reason, Beal does not proceed, then the situation would be reversed," the Prime Minister explained. A further 76,000 acres of land in the area, referred to as the buffer zone, will be granted as an "easement" to Beal, he said. Beal this week said it is also negotiating with other countries for launch operations. It said it has also "entertained offers" from Brazil, which has built its own launch facility just south of the equator. Beal said it is frustrated at the continued lack of significant progress in its three-year effort to get approval for a commercial spaceport on the uninhabited Sombrero island near Anguilla. Beal Director of Corporate Affairs, Mr Wade Gates said: "It's very frustrating for a company like Beal Aerospace, which proposes to build the first privately funded spaceport in the world". "This is a sound project that will cost the host country nothing, yet will provide incredible economic investment and international recognition", he offered. Beal Aerospace is a private company that designs, is building and will launch large "heavy-lift" space vehicles for the international satellite market.
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